Kelly Butte Lookout

We drove to the Kelly Butte Trail #1031 off of FSR 7030. This gorgeous, short, steep hike up to a fire lookout is 3.4 miles round trip with 1,100 ft gain. View of Mt Rainier and Kelley Butte from the parking area.

The first 0.7 miles is on an old forest road, gaining 200 ft . Here there is a beautiful view of Mt Rainier, before the steep part of the trail goes up through rocky terrain.

The beargrass is in bloom along with many other wildflowers. After a series of switchbacks with many lovely views of Mt Rainier, the trail crosses the top of Kelly Butte at a more gentle incline through a forest.

After the forest, the continues to cross Kelly Butte with outstanding views all around. To the south is Mount Rainier

To the east: distant views of Mount Stuart and the Enchantment Peaks, and below a pond

At the north end is the fire lookout

zoom of some of the Cascade peaks to the north, including a hazy Glacier Peak

I forgot take pictures towards the west, as it was cloudy and hazy in that direction. We had the trail to ourselves on the way up, and we only saw 6 other hikers at the lookout and on the way back down. Looking down to the south from the lookout and our trail back.

On our hike back down the switchbacks, we saw 5 mountian goats up on a ledge (zoom photo), making a fabulous morning even better.

some of the many wildflowers we saw along the trail this morning: